BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi has sacked a number of electricity ministry officials, his office said Thursday, in the latest attempt to quell public anger at chronic power cuts.
Four directors have been dismissed and a number of others moved “in order to reorganize the operation of the ministry in the service of the country,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
Those sacked were in charge of investments, contracts, distribution and administration at the ministry.
The decision follows the dismissal last month of electricity minister Qassem Al-Fahdawi “because of the deterioration in the electricity sector,” the premier’s office said at the time.
Iraq has been hit by more than a month of protests which erupted in Basra and quickly spread to other southern cities, as well as reaching the capital Baghdad.
Demonstrators are angry at the dire state of public services, with regular power cuts offering little respite from sweltering summer temperatures.
With the national grid providing just a few hours of electricity per day, many Iraqis are forced to pay to use generators through the private sector.
Protesters have also rallied against water shortages, unemployment and graft in a country where citizens argue they fail to benefit from the country’s oil wealth.
Officially $40 billion (34 billion euros) has been allocated to the power sector over the past 15 years, but a substantial slice has been siphoned off by corrupt politicians and businessmen who have fronted fake contracts.
Iraq’s anti-graft Commission of Integrity said Thursday it had succeeded in “recovering and preventing the waste” of public funds to the value of $322 million in the first six months of the year.
The commission said its investigations had allowed the judiciary to issue 1,071 arrest warrants, including against nine ministers and 21 senior officials but without naming them.
Iraqi PM overhauls electricity ministry after protests
Iraqi PM overhauls electricity ministry after protests
- Four directors have been dismissed and a number of others moved
- Those sacked were in charge of investments, contracts, distribution and administration at the ministry
Syrian government says it controls prison in Raqqa with Daesh-linked detainees
- Prison holds detainees linked to Daesh, and witnessed clashes in its vicinity between advancing Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters
Syria’s Interior Ministry said on Friday it had taken over Al-Aktan prison in the city of Raqqa in northeastern Syria, a facility that was formerly under the control of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The prison has been holding detainees linked to the militant group Daesh, and witnessed clashes in its vicinity this week between advancing Syrian government forces and the SDF.
It was not immediately clear how many Daesh detainees remain in Al-Aktan prison as the US military has started transferring up to 7,000 prisoners linked to the militant Islamist group from Syrian jails to neighboring Iraq. US officials say the detainees are citizens of many countries, including in Europe.
“Specialized teams were formed from the counter-terrorism department and other relevant authorities to take over the tasks of guarding and securing the prison and controlling the security situation inside it,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Under a sweeping integration deal agreed on Sunday, responsibility for prisons housing Daesh detainees was meant to be transferred to the Syrian government.
The SDF said on Monday it was battling Syrian government forces near Al-Aktan and that the seizure of the prison by the government forces “could have serious security repercussions that threaten stability and pave the way for a return to chaos and terrorism.”
The US transfer of Daesh prisoners follows the rapid collapse of Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria. Concerns over prison security intensified after the escape on Tuesday of roughly 200 low-level Daesh fighters from Syria’s Shaddadi prison. Syrian government forces later recaptured many of them.
